The way Lakers fans have taken to criticizing Jeanie Buss, left, and a Lakers organization that appears dysfunctional during what feels like a pivotal offseason for the future of the franchise reminds some of the era when Frank McCourt owned the Dodgers. (Photos by The Associated Press, left, and Getty Images)

If there was an L.A. instance that qualified for a Fans Hall of Fame, it would have been when Dodger fans chased Frank McCourt out of town.

(Although Underfunded Frank, now a French soccer owner, still has an impact. Every time you pay to park at Dodger Stadium, remember, he still gets a cut.)

We were reminded, again, of the dark days of McCourt ownership when plans were announced for a Laker fans demonstration outside Staples Center on Friday, protesting the Jeanie Buss regime and what has become the crushing dysfunction of the basketball operation.

(The protest, announced on Reddit, drew a throng measured in the tens rather than hundreds or thousands, including a trolling visit from Clipper Darrell. That probably says more about the folly of holding a “demonstration” at midday on a Friday than it does about the true level of discontent among Laker fans, which isn’t at McCourt levels yet but might be headed in that direction.)

Dodger fans held demonstrations, too. But in the end, they voted with their feet and with their wallets, and the resulting drop in attendance forced McCourt – who vowed he’d never sell – to file for bankruptcy and ultimately sell the team to the Guggenheim folks. So are Lakers fans willing to stay away from Staples, to quit watching the games and to quit wearing the gear until things change?

The circumstances are different, of course. McCourt was a flim-flam man, a con artist who based his entire modus operandi on other people’s money. Jeanie and her kitchen cabinet, as we noted a few days ago amid the Tyronn Lue fiasco, are either simply inept or, more likely, now at such cross purposes, with so many individuals weighing in, that nothing can ever get done.

Which brings up the question of what fans really want from the owners of their favorite teams.

If I had to guess, reasonably priced tickets and adequate TV coverage are quite important. But above all of that, fans (a) want the owners to be as serious about winning as they are, and (b) want to be able to trust that the people in charge know what they’re doing.

As we have been reminded this week, it’s not always that simple.

So, how to rank the L.A. area’s owners, with letter grades, on just how well they fulfill those expectations?

A: Steve Ballmer, Clippers: A one-time laughingstock club under Donald T. Sterling is now as close as we have to a model franchise, with an owner whose priority is the same as that of the fans. Refreshing. (And now those Jeanie Buss emails that made fun of “Ballz,” made public a few months ago, carry some serious irony. Who’s laughing now?)

A: Stan Kroenke, Rams: Wanting to win goes a long way in a league where, theoretically, all teams are created equal. Kroenke employs smart people and gives them the runway to get things done, which is why from the ashes of the return-to-L.A. season in 2016 the Rams have become the beasts of the NFC West.

B: Mark Walter and group, Dodgers/Sparks: As always, that abysmal Dodgers TV contract lowers their grade. The baseball ops department doesn’t always draw the approval of the fans – many of whom have trouble with new school baseball philosophies – but it’s apparent the bosses want that championship as much as their fans do. Meanwhile, you’d probably forgotten that five members of the Guggenheim Baseball group also control the Sparks. That club also maintains high expectations and believes in star quality. All L.A. teams should. Not all do.

B: Tom Penn and group, LAFC: The owners of the expansion MLS team set new standards for fan engagement, stadium, etc. in their first season. Now comes the hard part, winning a championship. Coach Bob Bradley frequently talks about the way Barcelona does things, but LAFC doesn’t have to be Barcelona. Being this year’s Atlanta United, a second-year team that won the MLS Cup in 2018, would be good enough.

B-minus: Henry Samueli, Ducks: You can say the franchise is still living off 2007, but Henry and Susan Samueli preside over a first-class organization that hasn’t seemed afraid to make hard decisions. There are more to come soon, possibly involving franchise pillars Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, but the elements of a bright future seem in place.

B-minus: Dean Spanos, Chargers: This will shock our friends in San Diego, but the Chargers quietly have become a solid team with a sustainable on-field future. It’s likely because Spanos and his staff are no longer obsessed with stadium matters. But will winning ever be enough to get Angelenos’ attention?

C: Phil Anschutz, Kings/Galaxy: The reclusive Denver billionaire is the head of two franchises seeking to return to glory. The question is whether he – or more likely Dan Beckerman, the president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group and the one who seems to exert the most influence over the teams – puts the right people in place to make it happen. With the Galaxy, first indications are promising. With the Kings, it’s murkier.

C: Arte Moreno, Angels: The best thing Moreno has done this decade is to make sure Mike Trout will stay around through 2030. Now maybe he can figure out a foolproof way to keep pitchers on the mound and out of the operating room. (Oh, by the way, Arte: “Los Angeles” or no “Los Angeles,” your fan base is predominantly in Orange County. A move to Long Beach might turn a lot of those south OC folks into Padres fans.)

Finally …

D: Jeanie Buss and the Buss Family, Lakers: This is the classic example of having to ace the final to avoid flunking, which in this case would involve hiring the absolutely right coach and signing at least one max-contract free agent into an organization where too many people have too much of a voice. The odds are dreary.

And who would have imagined, a decade ago, that the Lakers would have the worst ownership/front office in SoCal?

Jim Alexander is an Inland Empire native who started with his hometown newspaper, The Press-Enterprise, longer ago than he cares to admit. He's been a sports columnist off and on since 1992, and a full-time columnist since 2010. Yes, he's opinionated, but no, that's not the only club in his bag. He's covered every major league and major sports beat in Southern California over the years, so not much surprises him any more. (And he and Justin Turner have this in common: Both attended Cal State Fullerton. Jim has no plans to replicate Turner's beard.)

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.